Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration

Kermit the Frog rejoins his Sesame Street pals in the special.

Kermit and Elvis Costello

Script pages

The very first opening sequence played during the special's cold open.

The special includes many characters long retired from the show.

The special's end credits features recreations of favorite Sesame Street animations.

Norah Jones and her Y.

Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration is a primetime special commemorating Sesame Street’s 50th anniversary. The special aired on November 9, 2019 on HBO, followed by a November 17th airing on PBS. The special kicked off the show's landmark 50th season, which began on HBO the following Saturday.

The special was announced as early as July 2018, where it was said to feature celebrity guests, along with "new takes on classic segments" and "visits from Sesame Street icons," while also focusing on "the show’s cultural impact."

The special will be released on DVD and digital download on December 3.

Press kit description

“Sesame Street’s 50th Anniversary Celebration is an all-ages primetime event that offers a sweeping look back at fifty years on the Street. Hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the special reimagines classic segments and songs as the Sesame Street gang gets ready for a big party to celebrate the neighborhood’s 50th birthday. When the famous street sign goes missing before the party, it’s up to Elmo, Rosita, Grover, and Abby to track it down, while Big Bird and Snuffy plan a surprise of their own.

This star-studded special includes cameos from rare characters like Roosevelt Franklin and Kermit the Frog, and visits from celebrity guests. Joseph Gordon-Levitt serves as the audience’s guide, breaking the fourth wall to talk to viewers about his favorite Sesame Street memories. (He also pops up inside some of those classic moments, discovering a telephone with the Yip Yip Martians, practicing “near” and “far” with Grover, and joining the shocked crowd meeting Snuffy for the first time.)”

Songs

• "Sesame Street Theme"
• "Welcome!"
• "The People in Your Neighborhood"
• "Roosevelt Franklin Counts" (score)
• "Captain Vegetable" (score)
• "Bein' Green"
• Medley: "I Love Trash," "ABC-DEF-GHI," "Elmo's Song," "One of These Things," "Rubber Duckie," "C is for Cookie"
• "I Remember"
• "Count Me In"
• "Put Down the Duckie"
• "Sing"
• "This Is My Street"

Notes

• The special was primarily shot during the week of May 14, 2019. Nile Rodgers' performance was shot a week prior on May 6. The on-location cold open was shot on June 6.

• For the PBS airing, between the main feature and the credits, a series of "Sesame Street Memory" videos play featuring Busy Philips, Alessia Cara, Jason Schwartzman, Patton Oswalt, Lucy Liu, and Terry Crews, followed by the celebrity shout-out montage that followed the credits in the HBO version.

• The PBS preview clips, published prior to the special's airing on both HBO and PBS, features a slightly different version of "Count Me In" in the opening.

Characters

Muppets:

Abby Cadabby, the Amazing Mumford, Baby Bear, Bert, Big Bird, Captain Vegetable, Cookie Monster, Count von Count, Dish, Don Music, Elmo, Ernie, Forgetful Jones, Gabrielle, Goldilocks, Gonger, Grover (and Super Grover), Grundgetta, Guy Smiley, Harvey Kneeslapper, Herry Monster, Honkers, Hoots the Owl, Horatio the Elephant, Jacket, Julia, Lefty the Salesman, Letters of the Alphabet (A, B, C, X, Y), Mama Bear, the Martians (archival footage), Mr. Snuffleupagus, Old MacDonald, Oscar the Grouch, Roosevelt Franklin, Rosita, Rudy, Sherlock Hemlock, Spoon, Telly Monster, Two-Headed Monster

Background Muppets:

AM Monsters, Anything Muppets, Betty Lou, Biff, Chickens, Clam, the Countess, Ducks, Gladys the Cow, Hansel and Gretel, Little Bird, Louie, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Crustworthy, Number 50, Pigeons, Penguins, Prairie Dawn, Ovejita, Sheep, Sherry Netherland, Sully, Zoe

Animated

Donnie Budd, The Alligator King, The King of Eight, Fruta Manzana, The Bridgekeeper, Martian Beauty, Teeny Little Super Guy, Cecille, Twiddlebugs, Ladybugs, Suzie Kabloozie, Fef, Dorothy, The Typewriter

Cast

Host

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Cast

• Gina: Alison Bartlett
• Linda: Linda Bove
• Luis: Emilio Delgado
• Miles: Olamide Faison
• Mr. Noodle: Bill Irwin
• Susan: Dr. Loretta Long
• Nina: Suki Lopez
• Chris: Chris Knowings
• Maria: Sonia Manzano
• Bob: Bob McGrath
• Alan: Alan Muraoka
• Gordon: Roscoe Orman
• Leela: Nitya Vidyasagar

Special Guest Stars

Fran Brill, Sterling K. Brown, Elvis Costello, Whoopi Goldberg, Norah Jones, Solange Knowles, Patti LaBelle, Itzhak Perlman, Nile Rodgers, Caroll Spinney, Deborah Spinney, Meghan Trainor

Sesame Street Muppet Performers

Pam Arciero, Jennifer Barnhart, Tau Bennett, Warrick Brownlow-Pike, Tyler Bunch, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, Frankie Cordero, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Ryan Dillon, Stacey Gordon, Chris Thomas Hayes, Paul McGinnis, Noel MacNeal, Eric Jacobson, John Kennedy, Peter Linz, Spencer Lott, Carmen Osbahr, Martin P. Robinson, David Rudman, Matt Vogel

Special Appearance By

• Kermit the Frog

Extras

Rohan Agneshwar, Kaden Anderson, Adrianna Aquavella, Aydin Artis, Mark Christopher, Pierce Cravens, Lailene Delos Santos, Holanda Demeloitz, Saffron Faith, Adian Fong, Veronica Frazier, Kay Gaffney, Kafayat Gboladel, Lukas Gilkison-Parrish, Sheila Glenn, Zoe Glick, Kimberly Gorman, Deborah Grausman, Chris Guttadardo, Anika Hatch, Connor Hawke, Leah Horowitz, Joe Huu, Anna Kuchma, Sarah Lockwood, J. Elaine Marcos, Barry Mitchell, Erin Moore, Brianna Growalt, Hudson Loverro, Tayanah Jn Philippe, Kavon Newman, Martin Rohleder, Azra Tahirovic, Christina Williams, David Wong, Leonard Zimmerman

Special Extras

Greer Barnes, Lorenzo Giliberti, Clementine Kline, Hazel Anne Raymundo

The Baker (Voice) By

Jim Henson

Credits

• Executive Producers: Brown Johnson, Benjamin Lehmann, Ken Scarborough
• Producers: Mindy Fila, Todd E. James, Karyn Leibovich, Stephanie Longardo, Autumn Zitani Stefano, M.A.
• Directed By Jack Jameson
• Head Writer: Ken Scarborough
• Writer: Christine Ferraro
• Digital Producer: Andrew Moriarty
• Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content: Rosemarie T. Truglio, Ph.D.
• The Jim Henson Company NY Creature Shop

Puppets, Costumes, and Props: Ben Durocher, Joel Gennari, Tyler Hall, Michelle Hickey, Joshua Holden, Rollie Krewson, Sarah Lafferty, Anney Ozar, Constance Peterson, Sierra Schoening, Keely Snook, David Valentine, Jason Weber, Stacey Weingarten, James Wojtal

Production: Melissa Creighton, Joseph Roddy, Gabriella Degennaro, Carolyn Fanelli, Rich Dyar

• Music Copyist: Joe Fiedler
• Sesame Street Band: Randy Cohen, Michael Croiter, John Deley, Doug Derryberry, Joe Fiedler, Rob Jost, Gary Meyer, Kenny Rampton
• Sound Effects Editor/Re-Recording Mixer: Dick Maitland, C.A.S.
• Music Editors: Tyler Hartman and Paul Rudolph
• Supervising Music Editor: Michael Croiter
• Music Director: Bill Sherman
• Music Director (Arrangements and Orchestrations): Joe Fiedler
• Music Director (Vocals): Paul Rudolph
• Composers: Christopher Cerf, Joe Fiedler, Tony Geiss, Jeff Moss, Joe Raposo, Bill Sherman, William Vaughn
• Lyricists: Tony Geiss, Bruce Hart, Emily Kingsley, Jason Kingsley, Jeff Moss, Joe Raposo, Ken Scarborough, Norman Stiles, Jon Stone
• Sign Language Interpreter: Lynette Taylor
• Associate Director: Ken Diego
• Control Room Production Assistants: Christina Elefante and Andrew Moriarty
• Stage Managers: Frank Campagna, Phyllis Digilio-Kent, Shawn Havens
• Production Designer: David Gallo
• Cameras: Frank Biondo, Jerry Cancel, Shaun Harkins
• Cold Open Directed By Benjamin Lehmann
• "I Remember" Directed By Matt Vogel
• Magnetic Dreams Animation Team:

Creative Director: Rickey Boyd

End Credit Design (Based on Classic Animations): Rickey Boyd and Michael Lapinski

• Taped at Kaufman Astoria Studios

Norah Jones and Elmo

Norah Jones and the cast

Bill Irwin as Mr. Noodle

Roscoe Orman and Deborah Grausman

Bob McGrath and Linda Bove

Fran Brill and Stacey Gordon

Itzhak Perlman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Whoopi Goldberg and the cast

Itzhak Perlman and the cast

See also

• Sesame Street: 50th Anniversary

External links

• Behind the scenes photo album by Alan Muraoka